What Happened at the Minneapolis ICE Protest: A Full Breakdown
Quick Summary
A protest outside a Minneapolis hotel on Sunday night, sparked by the recent killing of local man Alex Pretti by law enforcement, descended into a chaotic confrontation with federal agents. Demonstrators, believing immigration agents were staying at the hotel, vandalized the building with anti-ICE graffiti and threw objects, leading federal officers to disperse the crowd with chemical irritants without coordinating with local police. This unrest follows two recent fatal shootings by federal agents in the city: the killing of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol, with video suggesting he was unarmed and restrained, and the death of Renee Nicole Good, who was shot by an ICE agent. These events are set against a backdrop of a surge in federal immigration agents in Minneapolis since December, prompting Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to publicly demand that the Trump administration withdraw the agents and implement a more humane and effective approach to immigration control.
On Sunday night, a protest outside a Minneapolis hotel spiraled into a chaotic confrontation with federal agents. Demonstrators had gathered at the Home2 Suites by Hilton near the University of...
On Sunday night, a protest outside a Minneapolis hotel spiraled into a chaotic confrontation with federal agents. Demonstrators had gathered at the Home2 Suites by Hilton near the University of Minnesota, believing federal immigration agents were staying inside. The protest was a direct response to the recent killing of a local man, Alex Pretti, by law enforcement.
The situation grew tense when some protesters started vandalizing the hotel, prompting federal officers to use chemical irritants to break up the crowd.
Protesters made their anger known, with videos showing graffiti like “ICE out” spray-painted on the building’s windows—a clear shot at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency at the heart of the Trump administration's hardline deportation strategy.
According to the New York Post, some people in the crowd threw objects at the hotel lobby and tried to smash windows. Video from the scene captured two federal officers armed with long guns standing guard. In one clip, an officer can be heard asking, “Where’s the local PD?” highlighting the absence of Minneapolis police at that moment.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) later clarified that the state patrol and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) were originally called to help Minneapolis police with property damage. As local authorities were moving in to surround the group for arrests, deeming the protest no longer peaceful, federal agents stepped in.
The DPS reported that the agents “arrived without communication and deployed chemical irritants, clearing the group.” This sudden move brought the demonstration to an abrupt end. The DPS confirmed that both state and DNR officers left the scene after the federal intervention.
This unrest didn't come out of nowhere. It happened just two days after U.S. Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse at a local VA hospital. While the Trump administration defended the shooting, video has been circulating that appears to show Pretti was unarmed and already restrained when he was killed.
This follows another recent killing in the city. On January 7th, an ICE agent named Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, also 37, as she tried to drive away from him.
These events are unfolding as a surge of federal immigration agents has been present in Minneapolis since December. Minnesota's Democratic Governor, Tim Walz, who was Kamala Harris’s running mate in 2024, has been publicly demanding that the White House remove the agents.
“President Trump, you can end this today,” Governor Walz pleaded on Sunday. “Pull these folks back. Do humane, focused, effective immigration control – you’ve got the support of all of us to do that. Please show some decency. Pull these folks out.”